Jungle lessons

For four days and three nights, I spent alone in the deep of a Borneo rainforest. Not exactly alone I guess, as the forest is alive everywhere and 24 hours a day.

The ants were first to welcome me when I alighted from the 4-wheel drive provided by Borneo Rainforest Lodge to take guests from Lahad Datu Airport into the heart of Danum Valley, some 77km away and takes 2.5 hours on a gravel track. The ants are everywhere, even hurrying up my lunch table to check my lunch choice as I opened my pack of "nasi kuning" lunch and sweet coconut dessert, a sugary Malay kueh.

My guide is a stocky chap with a wide grin, Rafel, dressed in pale green long sleeved shirt with a big BRL logo emblazoned on it, and long khaki pants. He pointed to his calf, covered with a grey cotton cloth pulled up to the knees and bunched up with a string and asked "Have you got your leech socks yet?" Ok, the forest is alive with leeches too!


Some lessons learnt in the jungle:

LESSON ONE: I am jungle food

Everything flying, crawling, looping, creeping view me as food supply. The sandflies swarm in droves to bite my neck, the only exposed area when I trek. Leaving red angry welts, like a large ruby necklace. Leeches are just as eager to make my acquaintance, looping up my leech socks in desperate such for exposed flesh.















LESSON 2: everything is bigger than life in the forest. I mean really big

LESSON 3: Human, apes and monkeys are primates, and the difference btw an ape and monkey is that the ape has no tail. Neither have I. I am an ape???????

LESSON 4: Everything you see in Danum is real. It is also wild.

Lesson 5: In the forest, magic is everywhere. So is colour. 

  
LESSON 6: There is more medicinal options in the jungle than in a modern clinic. Organic too.

When I hurt my hand, I had many options to choose from. Boiled tree root, Leaves meshed into pulp, Jungle oil (herbal). I choose jungle oil - called Ubat Batu or Stone medicine. Smells comforting, feels smooth when applied and leaves no marks.